PeteC

Okay, so yesterday I hooked up my Starmate Replay Sirius radio through the PIE adapter I got from a fellow forum member (Thanks!) and finally moved away from FM broadcast. Whoever designed that hidden bolt holding the radio in should be forced to come remove it for everyone who needs to take it out. But that's not what this is about....

I get about halfway to work this morning and I notice that I can hear engine/alternator noise through the sat radio now. I hooked everything up like this, factory radio to PIE adapter, PIE adapter to ground loop isolator (from same guys who sell the PIE kit), ground loop isolator to RCA to sat adapter cable, sat adapter cable into my Starmate Replay. All the wires run rehind the radio and come out under the ashtray. The sat radio is velcroed to the ashtray cover.

Two questions I have, does it matter which way I hooked up the ground loop isolater? I mean does it have an IN and and OUT end or not? The other one, removing the ashtray is a lot easier than removing the radio, can I just hook up another ground loop isolator in series under the ashtray to remove the whine?

Any other ideas?

ferris11

I need some information for this exact setup, too.

PeteC

Well I'm going to Radio Shack tonight to pick up another noise isolater (ground loop isolator) to try in series with the one I've already got. I'll let you know how it works.

ferris11

I have a ground loop from radio shack. Is your ground loop a radioshack one?

Also, do you think that 2 groundloops will solve it?

PeteC

My current one is not. As for fixing it, I hope so but am not sure. That's why I asked on here but as you can see didn't really get any responses.

I'll let you know how it pans out tonight.

truemagellen

the more GLIs you get won't help the key is a good ground

in fact if u use an add a fuse to tap power from the radio fuse and then share the ground with the lighter plug in the front should be noise free

iswan

What Tm Said. I Tapped My Power Off The Lighter Socket And Have A Radio Shack Gli, Otherwise Exactly The Same Setup = No Noise At All

truemagellen

actually taping power (not just ground) off the lighter socket will be much easier and cheaper follow what 'iswan' says (if u really want to do it my way see the Blinder Laser Jammer DIY I made it goes into detail on taping the fuse box with an add a fuse expander)

PeteC

Well, that's great....right after I picked up another ground loop isolator.

For power right now I'm still using the cigarette lighter adapter plugged into the 12v accessory outlet in the center console. Will tapping power directly be any better? I plan on doing it but haven't gotten to it yet. I plan on splicing into the cigarette lighter power feed from the ashtray for power, no problems right? I'll be putting a fuse in line at the same time.

truemagellen

the reason I think so many have had great luck with the lighter plug's ground is it must have a similar or very close ground to the stereo's

as for picking up the GLIs...where did u get them? they are only a few bucks at www.mazdaparts.com

PeteC

That's where mine came from (the one I'm still getting whine thru) although via another board member.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

radio shack and no problems here.

beers

ferris11

swoope, are you using the "lighter" plug from the rear console or did you wire it in through the fuse box?

swoope

iTrader: (5)

running through a relay then right to the battery.

beers

truemagellen

that is how my xbox is hooked up...sound is perfect

PeteC

One more question....when I splice the power cable into the harness, how do I know which wire is ground? (coming from the Sirius radio, not in the car harness)

ferris11

Installed mine with the ground loop isolator withpower from the ashtray and it worked beautifully.

truemagellen

great

swoope

iTrader: (5)

glad you got it working.

beers

PeteC

Okay, finally got time to try everything tonight. No luck, still have annoying electrical whine, comes in about 3k rpm and matches revs with the engine. Tried the radio shack isolater in-line with the one I had, no dice. Removed that and hard wired the Starmate replay to the power and ground of the cigarette lighter in the ashtray.

Will running a seperate ground for the Sirius radio help at all? Looking for any opinions/suggestions here cause right now it's better to use FM broadcast because of this noise. I'm a little dissapointed that I bought the PIE adapter and regular FM is better.

Anyone?

truemagellen

this is bizarre, the satellite unit might have grounding problems

are you using the Mbus to RCA or Mbus to 3.5 cable?

Ajax

I've got the exact same setup as you.. well not exactly..
I'm not using the ground loop. I also have a M-Bus-> Mini cable in my setup and it seems to work great. No engine noise, just pure audio.
It's odd that it does that.
Try taking out the ground?

I'm also planning to put in the extra lighter plug from radio shack behind the ashtray so I can get rid of some of the extra cabling I did. Then I plan to dremel down the ashtray so I can actually close it.

My install is over here on this thread: https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...postcount=1058

PeteC

Ajax, yeah, your setup gave me the idea for mine. I plna on buying another ashtray to modify so the radio fits. For now I just have it velcroed to the cover.

The cables I'm using are radio to PIE. Then PIE (mbus??) to RCA. I plugged the ground loop isolater in at this point. It also has RCA connections. So next is RCA to 3.5 (the mini plug the Starmate replay takes) which is plugged into the radio. Do they make a cable for PIE to 3.5 directly? This would keep me from using the ground loop isolater....but maybe I don't need it?

My wife has the exact same Sirius radio, I'll swap them and see if maybe it is a problem with the sat radio itself.

As for taking the ground loop out, I'll try but I'm not sure I can without pulling the radio again and that hidden bolt was a real pain so I'm trying to avoid it.

Thanks guys.

truemagellen

yes there is a direct mbus to 3.5mm

my guess is your RCA to 3.5mm Y cable is to blame, just a guess though

Ajax

I didnt put the hidden bolt back.
I just left it out. Screw that. It's a pain.